“It’s a surprise running into you again, Emma.” Olivia sported an amused look.

“What’s all this about? Were you the one who brought all of this water here?”

“The water’s been here since I arrived. I just came here to see the volcano, but it seemed worthwhile to stop and enjoy myself for an hour or two.”

“Well, that’s tough. Do you know of any other really hot places to visit?”

“Well, this heat has got to be coming from somewhere. You could probably just tunnel down or something. Oh, I almost forgot to mention: there’s a metal sign over on the other side of the spring. It might be of interest to you.”

I trudged across to see what this was about, and just as Olivia had said, there was a plaque plastered onto the rock wall.

POOL RULES

WARNING! NO LIFEGUARD ON DUTY

NO HORSEPLAY NO SHARP OBJECTS NO UNATTENDED MINORS NO FOOD OR DRINK NO RETURNING WATER TO VILLAGES NO ISEKAI WINNERS NO DISRUPTING THE OVERHEAD STEAM COLLECTOR

‘No returning water to villages’? Had this been the Devil King’s true plot all along? Was the purpose not to save demonkind, but to create a vacation getaway? I guess this ‘overhead steam collector’ is there to prevent loss of water, as well.

I returned to Olivia. “So, do you have any ideas at all for getting down to the lava? It’s kinda important.”

“How so?”

“I need it to, uh, save the world.”

“Oh, through creating a breeding program involving nearby villagers in order to pass down the immortality of demons while still maintaining the humanity of the descendents on a technicality?”

“Lucky guess. Yeah.” Actually, now that I think about it, I could probably just destroy the steam collector, which would make things a lot easier.

“Well, I’m afraid that I can’t help you with that. See, since our last meeting, I’ve received word from my, uh, higher-ups, that this world is to be destroyed at all cost, since they needed the space for land development.”

“Um… you also could, like, not do that. Plus, doesn’t the world get deleted if the owner’s conditions for what counts as ‘destroyed’ are met?”

“Oh, I meant land development in terms of, like, the physical location of this world in the multiverse. It’s an opportune spot, in terms of accessibility.”

“I thought you were just here for fun though.”

“Well, I was sort of trying to dance around it, but the ‘higher-ups’ that I’m talking about are the executives of the bank that gave me the loan that I used to get here in the first place.”

“And you’re just trying to pay it off? Why can’t you just go win the lottery or something?”

“I would’ve paid it off if I could, but I didn’t have the cash. I’m not talking about regular currency here, I’m talking souls. Since the tunnel to this world was the only thing I had to my name besides my Versucci outfit, they’re confiscating the tunnel instead, which they would’ve had to anyways if they wanted the land. I got ripped off when I bought it, though, so I’ve got to help them destroy the place as well.”

“Right… I mean, you could destroy the world and I don’t think that would be the ‘end of the world’ for me, but like, is there really no other way? You have even better luck than I do, surely you could get something off of it.”

“Nah, it’s too late for that. It’d be a pretty bad idea to try to fight against the bank anyways, so you’re better off just heading back to Tchadd. I’m sure he’d understand, although he might get a bit irritated.”

“Oh…”